Hatter&#39;s iron



G- W. MRTz HATTERS IRON Nov 20s Filed May 9, 19:53 l

I INVENTOR. 6607179 WNarlz vATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1934 HATTEirs iRoN George W. Martz, Norwalk, .Conn.,l assignor toI Hat Corporation of America, NewYork, N..Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 9, 1933, Serial No. 670,065

4 Claims.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in hatters irons and more particularly tohand irons adapted for ironing the brims of felt hats.

g An object of the invention is to provide a novel form of hand iron adapted to be yheated by electricity f or other means, and especially adapted for ironing the brims ofl felt hats having reinforced edges, such as is shown in Patent No. 1,865,977, and brims whose edges are reinforced by 'other improved methods.

A special object of the invention is to provide a two-part iron, the two members of which are movably connected with respect to each other, better to engage the opposite sides of the brim, and particularly to shape and proportion the parts to receive an enlarged, or other form of, edge portion of the brim in a Way to produce an edge of uniform thickness and iinish and at the same time to provide the desired scope and curl to the brim.

Hats of this type, whose brimsy are shaped more or less and have a reinforced or thickcned edge portion, cannot be satisfactorily ironed on an ironing machine, and in fact it has been very difficult to iron them by hand with the old forms of irons since the iron only engaged the hat upon one side, while the operator relied upon the shape of the form, better known as the flange upon which the hat was mounted, to shape and nish the edge.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

1n the accompanyingdrawing, in which is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention Fig. 1 shows a rear end view of my novel hand iron as applied to the brim of a felt hat, shown in vertical cross-section;

Fig. 2 shows a bottom plan view of the iron shown in Fig. 1;

A Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the iron shown in Fig. l, the lower member or jaw of the iron being in its lowermost position; and

Fig. 4 shows a further rear end view of an iron applied to a hat, and including a modified Aform of iron adapted for ironing a plain edged brim.

Hand brim irons of this class are now worked upon a hat brim while the brim is supported on a bench, the hat being mounted upon a suit- 1 able block which is also supported on the bench and free to be moved, as occasion may require, by the operator who is ironing the hat.

By the' use of a modified form of iron such as is shown in Fig. 4, I am able to iron both the top and bottom sides of a hat brim whose edge portions arecurled but not thickened, as is the case with the hat shown in Fig. 1. Therefore it will be seen that I do not wish toV limit myself in this respect. Referring in detail to the characters of refer- 'ence marked upon the drawing, 6 represents thetop of a work. bench or table, the same having a comparatively smooth top surface upon which the hat block 7 with hat 8 mounted thereon is supported'during the brim ironing op- 70 erations. The hat shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing is provided with a brim which has a slight curl 9 and a reinforced edge 10, it being understood that my improved iron is especially adapted for use upon brimshaving edges of various formations and'cross-sectional shapes. Irons of different sizes and of different brim Shapes are necessaryto accommodate hats having different widths and/shapes of brims. v l

Referring' more particularly to the iron itself, go 11 represents the manipulatingmember, that is the member to which `the handle 12 is attached vandrwhereby kthe iron is 4manually roperated upon the'hat brim, as indicated in Fig. 1. This manipulating or handled 'member is designed 85 to be heated in the usual or any preferredmanner, as for. instance by an electrical unit, not shown,.through the medium of a wire connection 13. The so-calledl near side 14 of the handled memberA is slightly concave, better to conform to the band portion of the hat body around which the iron is moved in the ironing operation of the brim. The underside of the iron shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is shaped to receive the movable jaw member 15 and includes a relatively at face portion 16 across approximately one-half of its under face eX- tending from front to rear, its inner portion terminating in a circular shaped concave recess 17, better to accommodate the reinforced edge portion of the brim. The remaining under surface of the heated manipulating member, as shown in the drawing, may be curved downward and outward, as indicated at 18, to determine the shape, in cross-section, of the brim. The particular form of the iron in this respect may be varied of course to produce the particular shape of brim desired.

The movable jaw member 15 is provided with means for its movable connection to the mampulating member such for instance as a pair of pins 19 which are secured within the jaw member and extend up through vertical holes 2,0 in the manipulating member and provided with means 21 to limit the opening movement of the jaw, as indicated in Fig. 3.'r This jaw member is also provided v`with a relatively flat top surface 22 which engages with the fiat face portion 16 on the underside of the manipulating member which obviously serves to retain the upper curved portion 23 of the movable member in spaced relation to the under curved portion of the upper member so as to receive and operatively accommodate thefouter portiono'f the brim of the hat therebetweenf The bottom face portion of this jaw member extends and normally lies beneath the bottom face portion of the upper member, see Fig. 1, so as to also provide a clearance as between the bottom face portion of the upper member and the top of thebench upon which the hat and block are positioned'so that as the iron is moved forward and backward, ythis portion of the under face ofthe upper member of the iron will move on vand iron the top surface of the brimas the lcurved portions of the two members of the iron lsimilarly engage and operate upon the opposite faces of the edge portions of the brim.

The operating face 18 of the inner end portion of the top or heated member 11, as shown `in Fig. 4, does not include a concaved groove, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but is shaped to conform to the face of the lower member and to thereby provide a uniform space throughout,

better to iron both sides of the edge portion of a brim of uniform thickness. In this respect, it will" of course be understood ,that the primary object of making the iron in two parts is. to permit a hat brim having a reinforced edge portion to be readily positioned in the ironv and toy provide sufficient pressure upon the brim to insure proper ironing` and finishing of the vsurfaces thereof. In lifting the ironfromthe table, the upper member naturally lifts away from the lower jaw member, the pins moving .down through the holes for a limited distance.4 The two members remain closed, however, when resting idle and thus serve to become heated, the lower jaw member being warmed through its contact and close relation withftheupper member. f Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: .-1. A hatters iron for ironing hat brims comprising a heatable ironing member having a curved side face to engage the crown of a hat and having a fiat underside and an operating `surface tapering into a curved under portion, an

attached jaw having a fiat side to engage that of the heated member and freely movable toward and from the heated manipulating member and having an operating surface corresponding in form to that of the heated member, the said fiat sides when engaging forming a limited space between the operating surfaces conforming to that of the thickness of a hat brim to iron both sides thereof.

2. A hatters iron for ironing hat brims comprising a heatable ironing member having a curved side face to engage the crown of a hat vand having a iiat under side and an operating surface tapering into a curved under portion, a cooperating jaw having a flat underside and a top side normally in engagement with the fiat underside of the heatable member and a curved tapering portion which extends in under the tapered operating surface of the heated iron normally spaced to form the thickness of a hat brim, said jaw beingadapted to move toward and from the heated manipulating member so as to engage and iron both the top and bottom sidesV of a hat brim. y 3. .fi hatters iron for ironing hat brims com prsing a heatabie ironing member including means for manipulating the same and having a relatively fiat operating surface tapering into a curved portion, a cooperating jaw carrying supporting means extending freely through the heated member movable toward and from the heated manipulating member and having an operating surface corresponding to that of the heated member, the two parts being formed to engage for a part of their surfaces and form a space between other parts of their surfaces, thev space conforming to that of the thickness of a hat brim, and to serve to iron both sides thereof.

4. A hatters iron for ironing hat brims compricing a heatable ironing member having a curved side face to engage the crown of a'hat and having a flat underside and an operating surface tapering into a curved underportion, a f cooperating Jaw having a hat underside and a top side normally in engagement with the flat underslde of the heatable member and a curved tapering portion which extendsy in under the tapered operating surface of the heated iron normally spaced therefrom the thickness of a hat brim, said jaw being adapted to move toward and from the heated manipulating member so as to engage and iron both the top and bottom sides of a hat brim, the operating plane of the f heated element normally being above that of theI underside of the jaw.

GEORGE W. MARTZ.

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